Inbound Freight Specialist

Position Overview

The Inbound Freight Specialist is responsible for managing the end-to-end delivery appointment scheduling process across ShipMonk's fulfillment center network. Using the DataDocks scheduling portal as the primary platform, this role serves as the central point of coordination between carriers, freight brokers, merchants, and warehouse operations teams. The Specialist ensures that merchant inventory arrives on time and without delays by maintaining accurate appointment calendars, enforcing scheduling requirements, and resolving exceptions swiftly.

Key Responsibilities

Appointment Management

• Monitor and manage the DataDocks scheduling portal throughout the day, approving and canceling appointments across all active ShipMonk warehouse locations (US, Canada, Czech Republic, and UK).
• Review all pending appointments to verify accuracy — including ASN, pallet/carton counts, load type, and BOL alignment — before approving.
• Identify and flag potential duplicate appointments; communicate with carriers via the DataDocks Messages feature and hold in pending status until confirmed.
• Enforce appointment requirements: 5+ pallets or 30+ floor-loaded cartons require a scheduled appointment at least 24 hours in advance (with merchant-specific exceptions).
• Ensure a minimum two-hour interval is maintained between floor-load appointments, and that floor-load slots are scheduled at the start of the day where possible.
• Cancel appointments that fall below minimum thresholds, documenting reasons in appointment notes.
• Maintain accurate notes for all appointment changes, including the name of the requester for record-keeping purposes.

Carrier & Merchant Communication

• Serve as the primary point of contact for carriers and brokers via the appointments@shipmonk.com inbox, DataDocks Messages, and warehouse-specific Slack dock channels.
• Guide carriers new to DataDocks through the three-step onboarding process for accessing and booking within the portal.
• Respond to inquiries regarding appointment status, receiving hours, pallet/carton requirements, and scheduling availability using established email signature templates.
• Direct freight-related inquiries to the appropriate team (Transportation, Support, Logistics) based on the nature of the request.
• Collect required shipment details (ASN, destination, load type, pallet/carton count) when information is missing, and escalate if unresolved within 24 hours of the appointment.

DataDocks Portal Administration

• Perform bulk ASN/PO uploads to DataDocks three times daily (9:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 3:30 PM) using exported data from Metabase and the standardized upload template.
• Manually add individual ASNs to DataDocks when bulk upload timing does not capture newly created ASNs.
• Perform company/merchant bulk uploads to keep active account data current in the portal.
• Maintain and update inbound receiving hours, daily capacity limits (pallets and floor loads), and blocked dates for holidays and peak periods across all locations.
• Onboard new ShipMonk warehouse sites to DataDocks by gathering site information, coordinating with the DataDocks team, creating Slack dock channels, and conducting ops training sessions.
• Manage DataDocks user access for operations teams — up to 10 active users per site — and maintain the Ops User List.

Exception Handling

• Evaluate exception requests from merchants and carriers who are unable to book their preferred appointment slots.